Before we left we were asked to write something for the blog about why were going on the Uganda mission trip. At that time we weren’t able to put our thoughts into words. We had very little time and too much that needed to be done before we were to leave, so writing has waited until now.

We felt that we were being called to go, but we weren’t sure why. Now I know why. The letters from our kids in Uganda are not very informative as too what their lives are like. They are more like form letters and leave many questions unanswered. Their letters don’t let us get to know them like they are family members, and we desired to know them and their families better. There was only one way to get to know them, go as we were being called.

We sponsor 4 children in Uganda, 3 in Kachungwa and 1 who attends Alex and Faith’s church in Luzira. I want to tell you about them and what we experienced.

 Starting with those in Kachungwa:

 Apolo, he is in primary school level 6 and has now finished his final exams. He lives on a little knoll about 200 meters from the church. His home is in a traditional family circle cluster, it is made of sticks and mud with a sheet metal roof. The first view I had of it was like I have seen in a movie.  I was awe struck! It was such a beautiful setting. Down in a little draw on the other side of the knoll was some tall grass with his family’s goats happily eating. We went into his home where they had woven straw mats on the floor and they had us sit on one of the benches they had. All of the family members that were there came to us one at a time and shook our hands, the girls all bowed or kneeled in front of us, it was a very humbling thing to sit there and receive this honor from them. His father died several years ago. They are so very grateful for our sponsoring Apolo because they don’t have a cash income to pay for his schooling. They live off of the land. Apolo’s standing at his school is near the top of his class, he has a dream of becoming a doctor. We hope that he is able to archive his goal. Some of the Christmas and birthday gift money we have sent to him he has used to buy goats, and other items of need.

The goats provide meat and milk, and when his herd becomes big enough he will be able to sell a few for a little cash income. This picture is a part of his extended family.

 

 

 Elinah, Lives a few miles away near the heart of the community in the valley and walks to school daily, she lives with a brother and sister-in-law her parents are both dead. She is in P7 at school and has missed a lot of school this year because of Malaria, because of that her grades are lower than she would like. Without our sponsorship she wouldn’t be able to go to

school. I wish that our schedule hadn’t been overfilled this year and had allowed us to visit with her family at their home and to learn more about them and see her recently purchased goat; I deeply regret that we just ran out of time. She is a shy sweet girl that I wish we knew better. We will just have to go again in Feb of 2015 and spend more time with our families, especially hers.

 

 Peninah is the youngest of the 4  we sponsor. She is in kindergarten. We have recently learned that 2 of her older siblings are sponsored by the Harvey’s.  Christian Lycan with us sponsored a family business for them several years ago. Now we have seen the results of sponsoring the family business it allowed her father to go back and finish high school. The business money was used to purchase 4 acres of land, pay some community members to help clear the brush that was on most of it and plant multiple inter-planted crops of Irish potatoes, “ground nuts,” a form of peanut, and casaba. The potatoes have now been harvested with part of them feeding the family, part has been used for the 2^nd crop that has been planted this year and most of the potatoes were sold. The money from the potatoes was enough for her father to buy more land from his brother. Her father is known to many of us as Pastor Paul, a volunteer pastor at Kachungwa’s out-reach church at Milembe. The ground nuts have been harvested and were stored in their home ready to sell, and the casaba will be harvested in a few more months. The business is self sustaining and growing. It not only supports their family but helps others in the community as well.

 

 

Our 4^th child is located in Luzira which is on the outskirts of Kampala her name is Linda. Her name is the only one that we can pronounce correctly, the other 3 are pronounced with a Uganda pronunciation with an accent on the first syllable.

Linda, is 13 years old and is a very bright and talented young lady, she attends Alex and Faiths church and has lunch at their house on some Sundays. Her parents have both died and she lives with step or is it step-step parents in one of the slum areas outside of Kampala. Her step mother recently had a baby of her own and had been away from home for a long time to take care of her own mother at a village that is a long distance away.  Linda is in grade P5 at Murchsion Bay primary school and is dreaming of becoming a doctor. From what I saw at church I would call her a socialite. Without our sponsorship she would not be in school and I’m not sure where she would be living. Faith took us to Linda’s home, before getting there we purchased some rice, beans, sugar, salt and soap as a gift, as we did for the other families. When we arrived at Linda’s home no one was there, she didn’t know we were coming we waited awhile and talked to one of her friends, as we were leaving we met her as she came down the path carrying a neighbors baby. We left there to go to Alex’s revival meeting together. We observed that 10 meters from where she lived was an African version of a “Bar” and 30 meters up the path was another one. We also noticed that several of the men that hung out around there showed a little bit too much interest in her she just ignored them, but we don’t like it!!! It’s little wonder why she doesn’t stay there a lot of the time. Later in the afternoon at the revival we got word that her step mother had arrived at the church which was a few blocks away. We walked with Linda to the church and walked back together to the revival with her mother, we had a chance to talk and take some pictures, and she stayed for around an hour before catching a “Taxi” for the 2 mile trip to home. About an hour later Linda showed a “book” that she had made with an old piece of newspaper for a cover. Isaac Williams and I looked at it in wonder and awe. When we got toward the back of book she put her hand over the page that we had started to look at, so we closed it up and handed it back to her and thanked her for letting us see it. Later she gave it to Geri, who thought it was just a piece of newspaper and folded it in half to look at later. When I found out that she hadn’t opened it and read it I showed Geri what was in it. You will get a chance to read it for yourself in an attached PDF file. I encourage you to do so! Grab your tissues first. Part way through the book you will notice where we started to sponsor her. You will notice a change. What she writes about in the start of the book is what she sees around her all the time.

 After we returned home Alex sent us a message saying that that day that we spent with her was probably the best day of her life. We haven’t stopped thinking about the kids and families there, and how we have had such an effect on their lives and others around them. By going to Uganda we now have a personal knowledge of these people; they are very much like family now. They are no longer just a picture of one of their children, we are family. We have contacted Faith and with Linda’s help they are going to help us pick another child to help.

Before leaving home we were told about some of our sponsors that haven’t received a letter in over a year. I talked to the folks at ARM while we were there about this. The answer is: During the rainy seasons the roads are not passable because of the mud. Sometimes they don’t have contact with the community for several months at a time because of the distance, roads and conditions. Some of the families are considered mobile that is they will move away for several months and then they will move back. When ARM finds out that a family has been gone for 3 months then they will try to find out where they went for the next 3 months. Letters are written 3 to 4 times a year and with one of these mobile families it is possible to go a year without getting a letter. At the present  from the time a letter is written to when we receive it 4 months may have lapsed. ARM is aware of this problem and is trying to make changes to the processes. If you are in the situation of not receiving a letter for this long of a time, please don’t just stop sponsoring the child, go to Renee and ask her to contact ARM to find out why. I think the number of children that are supported is around 8000, it’s a big job for just a few people to track.

Gary and Geri Dunfee

 

 

 

 

Last Day

8-6-13

After breakfast, we got our passports back from ARM, and squeaked in a tiny bit of shopping. We got food to go from the Java Café again and headed to the airport in Entebbe, which is an hour drive in good traffic. It's a very small airport with a duty free store, a craft store, one café, and one coffee shop.

It was about 4 hours to Dubai. Because of the closure of all Middle Eastern US Embassies, half the group opted to stay the night at the airport, but the rest went to the hotel. It was the Arabian Park Hotel this time, so we got to see slightly more of the city than on the way there. We got about 5 hours of sleep before we went back to the airport. Then another 13 hours to Seattle, 4 hour layover, then 1 hour to Portland. We figure the hotel sleepers were awake for 26 hours before we go to our homes. Needless to say we were all exhausted and satisfied with the whole trip.

PS. We heard back from Martin at ARM and they are going to Board Scovia at Grace Christian School, in Kachungwa, starting in Sept. Praise God for them helping her get out of her aunts home! So happy about this.

Sunday Again

8-4-13

Mukama akwe Omukisa!(God bless you)

This morning we all went to The City Church and most people stayed to help with Sunday School, except Ken, who was preaching. Brandon went to preach at a different church.
I went to preach at a church called "Hope for Kingdom Glory", which was near Alex's home. God gave me a message Friday night about a saying I heard in Melembe "water is life". I tried to get across that Jesus is life instead. The pastors name there is Maade Fred (M-ah-day) and his wife leads worship. The church is very humble; wooden poles wrapped in tarp with a corrugated metal roof that leaked. Their praises to God were beautiful. They are just starting a 15 day fast. Pray for them.
It rained really hard while there, which went with the message and cooled it down. God gave me so much peace there! I'm NOT a public speaker, but the only time I shook was during the parenting class.


I was picked up after church and taken back to The City Church and we handed out gifts and donated items to the kids. Then lunch at Alex's again. We had bananas steamed in the peel. They don't taste like bananas, but are still sweet.

We had some free time after lunch, so Jeff, Brandon and I went to a store to find something to use for water baptism. We found a blow up pool. Gary, Geri, and Ralph all went to visit their kids.

The crusade tonight started with singing and then Jeff baptized his girls and 8 more people. Shari and Gary gave testimonies and Isaac spoke. Every night of the crusade has ended with people giving their lives to Christ. So blessed by this time.
The power kept going out, but the drummer would take over and people would continue to dance and praise the Lord until we were finished.

Love in Christ, Danelle Chase

VBS

8-3-13

Today Pastor Peter from ARM came to breakfast at Adonai House to see how Canby and Kachungwa are and to update us on Gaba.

After that, we went to The City Church in Luzira (Alex's church) to do VBS with the kids until 4PM. The last number I heard of kids that signed up was 420, but some didn't register. They started with music and drama and choirs. We led them in the largest musical chairs game in history!
We went to Alex's house for lunch, where we had chapatti (a flat bread), and then back to the church for outdoor games. They liked Simon Says and Red Light/Green Light in our group.

We also met a child my mom asked me to sponsor for her, Hiba. She is the last total orphan in the area that needed a sponsor. PTL! She lives with her uncle and is in Alex's clan. She was scared to meet a Mazungu at first, but warmed up quickly and got to eat lunch with us. She's a tease.

I met a boy named Moses who asked me to remember him.
We also met our 5th sponsored child, Kevin. His dad is dead and his mother is Muslim. He has 1 brother and an uncle nearby. He was very shy. He took off to take his gift home and Brandon followed him and took a picture of his mother. They have a tiny shop that sells fruit and dried fish to the neighborhood. Later we bought some food for them and Brandon took me to see the shop.

Ken spoke at the crusade tonight about how God provides the way for us. Julie & Ralph gave testimonies. A number of the kids from the VBS were at the crusade, including Moses. He was telling me about how our home is in heaven and we are just visitors here. He's a funny kid. I don't think he has many friends. He wants to be a Christian, but he says that Lucifer makes him be bad too much. He says his mom doesn't want him to be either. I told him if he wants to be a Christian, then be a Christian and that Jesus beats Lucifer every time. I hope he believes me and gets saved. He asked me for a fingernail so he could remember me.

Love in Christ, Danelle Chase

Mercy Network

8-3-13

After breakfast, we stopped at ARM headquarters to discuss a few issues that arose, and then we went to an area called Kisubi near the Entebbe airport. There was a small church, called Life Transformation Church, who had some volunteer members working with Mercy Network to help hand out food and interpret for us. We weren’t in true slums, but were visiting the very poor and sick, people who were Catholics and hadn’t accepted Christ as their savior, people who needed a helping hand from the body of Christ. Sam, the chairman for the area was also there to thank us for coming.

Mercy Network works this way: they find 25 families in each of 12 locations. They deliver food 2 times a month for up to 1 year and then move on to other families so they don’t create dependance. They also help start pig farms and sewing businesses.

We split up into 4 groups and each group took 5-6 sacks of corn flour, sugar, protein porridge, and beans. We went into peoples homes, prayed for them and gave them the food.

My group was Brandon. Pastor Ken, and Ruth and Dan from the church.
First we went to Margarets’ home. She is 76 and a widow. She has taken in orphans and abandoned children. She has been very sick with Malaria and hasn’t had the strength to help the kids much lately. Please pray for her healing and protection for the kids so they don’t get it.

Next we visited Proscovia Namudu. She is a widow who is HIV+. When her husband died, he left her in a bad place. She came to live with her sister for 3 years, but she had nothing. Her sister died. She has taken in her 5 grandchildren and her sisters children, who’s parents are dead. She watches someone’s pigs for them to get money for rent and school fees. She speaks English pretty well, sings in church, and is believing God for her complete healing. She feels bad because everything she seems to put her hand to fails. She feels a demon may be following her around.

Rose is another widow who is HIV+. She has 2 kids and lives with her sister who has 8 kids. Her sister has a store and helps her when she is sick. She has converted from Catholicism. She has lost her job and needs another one as well as healing.

The last house we visited was of Olive and John. He is a boda boda driver and she cooks porridge at a school. They have 2 kids, Jovia and Rudi. She has not accepted Christ and is a Catholic. She asked us to pray for her mother, Specioza, who has a sickness that has caused her to not be able to walk for 2 years.

We saw some Taro plants and a bush the grows tiny berries that are like an eggplant.

We went downtown after that and had burgers/Mexican/fish and milkshakes at Java Café.

We saw Pastor Alex Mutagubyas' church, The City Church, which used to be Luzira Community Church, where they went over our schedule for Saturday. Then it was time for the first night of the crusade.

The crusade was located in an empty field where the community well is. Great location! People were coming and going for water the whole time and a lot stopped to listen. Brandon preached about how Mathew was the lowest of the low and Jesus called him and accepted him. Jeff and Isaac gave testimonies.

De-Nile!

8-1-13

A few people are getting sick, and not just from the water. It looks like the flu or something. Please pray for our health.

Today we split into 2 groups and rode covered boats up the Victoria Nile, because it comes from Lake Victoria before flowing into Lake Albert. We went as close to Murchison Falls as the current would allow. It was beautiful and it was cooler on the water. We saw: a ton of hippos, literally, Cape Buffalo, Water Bucks, Skimmers (a bird), grass heron, gray heron, African Darters called a snake bird, weaver birds, African Kingfishers which can hover, and African Fish Eagles (much like our Bald Eagles in size with more white on their heads).

We drove back to Muyenga and Adonai House immediately after the cruise. We saw so many little butterflies of all colors while driving through the jungle, but they were mostly too fast to take any pictures of. That took the rest of the day.

Love in Christ, Danelle Chase

Safari Day

7-31-13

Today we left the Town View Hotel at 5AM to head out to Safari. We passed through some road construction and some brush crews using machetes on the grass. It rained some more today. I hope these showers are showing up in Kachungwa as well.

Macindi Town is the last town before we enter the protected jungle area. We drove about 1 1/2 hours through jungle and baboons, then took a ferry across the Nile River, and checked into the Paraa Lodge. The Safari was from 4PM until dusk. The game preserve is huge, so it was hard to see some animals.
We saw: Oribi- tiny antelope that the leopards like because they can carry them into the tree to eat. Water Bucks- a small elk sized antelope. Cob- small antelope. Long-Faced-Stupid-Taste-Gooder- another large antelope with a long nose and mushy brains. Cape Buffalo, giraffe, elephants, Colobus Monkeys, Red Throated Bee Eaters
Whistling Acacia- a fuzzy looking, grey, tree with black balls in it. The balls are hollow and when they dry out they get holes and the wind blows through them making them whistle. Another acacia tree that had about 3 inch long, very tough thorns.

It was a fun and bumpy experience. The lodge was very nice with Americanized buffet food and really nice beds/rooms.

Love in Christ, Danelle Chase

Sidenotes

Interesting information I wanted to share.

Concerning food: Matoke is boiled plantain. It is a bland starch that reminds me of poi in flavor, but potatoes in consistency. Yams so far have been white with purple spots. They have a little more flavor than the Matoke. They are good plain or with gravy or peanut paste, which is also purple. Sweet potatoes are the white variety and are a little sweet. I like them. You can also put gravy on them.
Rice is served at every lunch along with chicken, Irish potaotes, cooked chicken livers, a little beef cubes, and fresh pineapple. Meat here is cooked to well done always. Anita didn't like the meat at the resort because it was about medium/ medium well.
Samosas are triangle shaped and deep fried like a wanton. They can be stuffed with meat, beans, or vegetables. Very tasty!
Mendazi is a slightly yeasty, deep fried donut, but not sweet. It's square shaped. Not bad.
At the resort we had Katoogo. It is stewed bananas in mixed vegetables, carrots, cauliflower, peppers, etc. in a tomato based sauce. The banana flavor is gone and tasted like the sauce, which is yummy. The bananas take on a potato consistency.

Birthdays: On Shari's Birthday, they dressed her in traditional clothes and slowly walked her into the church, in front of everyone, to the wedding march song. Todd and her cut the cake together into lots of small pieces and passed it around to as many as they could. She was so embarrased! Alex was the culprit. This is pretty typical of Birthdays.

About names here: I asked Alex about why people don't have the same last names as their fathers. He said that when a child is born, they are given 2-3 names that are from a list of acceptable names that each tribal clan has. When the child becomes closer to marriageable age, they can change the order of their name, add a name, or take their fathers name. First and last names are interchangeable, so it doesn't matter which name you call your child, in case the letters are unclear about it.

If you have a child like us with a "Ky" combination in their name, it is pronounced as "ch".

I met a man named Mugisha Francis Bekunda at Melembe. He gave me some information about being a chairman. He is the elected chairman LC1 of Melembe. He is the communities link to government activities and is in charge of mobilizing the people for projects like clearing a field, etc. Chairman LC2 is at the Parish level. Chairman LC3 heads the sub-county. Chairman LC4 is at the district level, which Uganda has 69 of. Chairman LC5 is the president.

Love in Christ, Danelle Chase

Home visits

7-31-13

Mukama yebazebwe! (Praise the Lord)

Today is our last day at Kachungwa. It rained heavy a few times, which cools things down usually for the rest of the day. That makes me a happy camper!

We drove out to Kachungwa proper to see the land the medical clinic should be built on. Please pray for that process to speed up. The paperwork should have been done in April. It is in the town behind the main row of stores and a layer of houses and a banana field. There is a well and power lines nearby. It was being used to grow peanuts recently. The town chairmen and people know about the clinic and some followed us up to watch us pray on the property and shook our hands. There is a guava tree on it that shouldn't have fruit, but did. Cool!

We also visited a bank that a member of Kachungwa Community Church has started. It is called Peoples Bank and they do small loans in the community and people are starting to save money there. This is something we want!

We bought some things to give to our kids' families, beans, rice, etc. Jeff bought a 25Kg bag of corn flour ($14) and the shop owner was dancing in the streets afterwards. We were happy to be able to influx some money into the town.

Back at the church, we went to the classrooms and did VBS for each grade. Brandon and I did P-6 where we sang a little and talked about the "who/what/where/why/when/how" method of studying the Bible and using the God separated from man where Jesus is the bridge over the gap illustration to show them a way to witness to others. The teacher said they understood and then we had a question time. They are really interested in our seasons and the teacher helped connect some of the things we said to lessons they have learned, like Fall and transpiration. That was very helpful.

After that, Brandon and I visited our first childs' house. Kayesu Kyalimpa lives really close to the school with her mother and 3 sisters, 2 sisters and brother from her fathers second wife. The father and second wife are dead. The fathers mother lives next door. The mother works at digging to pay for 1 girls schooling and at least two of the others are sponsored. They all go to school except the little boy and girl. The mother sold a pig to buy a fairly big mud wall house for the area. They have 6 pigs. The mother also is involved at helping at the church. Praise the Lord for her hard work and commitment!

After a quick lunch, we visited our other girl named Scovia Muhembisi (sp). Her situation is not so good. She lives about 3km away from the church in a tiny town called Kysinga with 2 aunts, one is crippled and the other has a baby, and her uncle and older sister. Her aunt and uncle drink and either neglect or possibly abuse her. She hardly talks and is very closed off. She found us at the school a few times and will hug us and hold our hands, but she won't speak unless spoken to. She disappears back home if you let go of her. She has a grandmother who lives far away, who she visits occasionally. Her mother ran off and her father is dead. Her mud house was VERY tiny and they have 1 pig. She needs prayer and we need prayer to know what to do for her.

To my nervousness, we had to ride a boda boda (motorcycle) to visit our first boy, John. He's kind of shy and quiet. He lives 6km away in Kachungwa town. His father is dead and his mother , 2 younger sisters and brother live with their grandmother. They lived farther away, but moved here recently so he could go to school. There is also an aunt and cousins that live nearby. He takes care of meat sheep (not the wool type) and have a mixture of other animals as well. He gave us a chicken, which we named George.

We have another child here, Sam Nsynga (sp), but we ran out of time and weren't able to visit his home. That was very disappointing because we learned so much about the others through this process. Sam grabbed on to Brandon and followed him around as much as he could. He seems more outgoing.

I have to give a shout out to my boda boda driver, though. He was slower than normal and he let me hold on to him. Normally and woman rides side saddle behind the driver and doesn't hang on. I, thank the Lord, had shorts on under my skirt and was aloud to ride straddle and wrap my arms around him. I also had George under one arm on the way back, so I was happy and relaxed at his gentleness. We were a big source of humor for everyone who saw us driving. Oh, well.

Love in Christ, Danelle Chase

Church Plants

7-30-13

There are still a few small puddles on the ground this morning, so it must have rained good during the night too. Yay!

After Breakfast at the school, we drove through Kachungwa proper, past a government school to visit two church plants that have started out of Kachungwa. We saw lots of banana groves, some cassava, and a little corn. They also grow potatoes, avocados, mangos, papaya, guava and tomatoes around. Sugar cane grows wild. They plant eucaliptus and a few varieties of pine for wood/ scaffolding.

We passed through the Gorode Trading Center where they have a government headquarters and a tiny clinic into Kigando sub-county. We passed a valley full of water that was a government water project. They also do environmental projects. We saw some mud huts with thatching for roof and a section of wall that was just dried banana leaves. Half of our group went to Dyangoma church plant and the rest, including me, went to Melembe. Melembe means peace. There was a small coffee plot near it. The church is a 25x10 ft. mud and stick building. They have started a school there called Cornerstone School. They have 1 real tiny building as a classroom. The school is only P-1 to 3 for now, but we saw a nice group of kids there. Brandon and a few others went to pray at the pastors house, which was 1/4 mile down a foot path to a true mud hut village. Afterwards we had a church service where Brandon preached on the greatest commandment, loving God and the second, loving your neighbor. They did some songs and dances for us. Francis Mecunda, who is the elected chairman for the community, was there and talked to us a bit about the needs of the area; water and a clinic. The closest one is about 10 miles away. Please pray for these two communities.

We ate lunch at Kachungwa and were off to Bagezza Seed Secondary School, which is a government school and one they visited last year. Ashley and Isaac gave their testimonies and Pastors Ken and Sylver spoke. Isaac and Ralph also sang a few songs with guitar. Over 100 kids came forward, but some of those just wanted prayer, etc. Then was tea and dinner back at the hotel.

Love in Christ, Danelle Chase

Sunday

7-29-13

Praise the living God!

I slept 3 hours last night, but I just read my Bible by headlamp.

We left Town View Hotel at 8:30 and were at breakfast in Kachungwa by 9:30. Sunday School started at 10 and we were all asked to take an age group and teach. Todd and Shari Davis, Brandon and I taught 13-15 year olds. God gave me a lesson about 3 months ago about being a pot. God makes us as a potter does, so that we can be useful to Him. Sometimes he allows us to be baked in the fire to make us stronger, but He watches us and doesn't leave us alone to shatter. He also wants us to choose to put good things into our pot, not rotten fruit, which will corrupt us and take our minds and hearts off of God and His purposes for us. I think they understood most of it, with an interpreter. They sang some songs and asked some questions about a America and I drew a picture of Oregon on the chalkboard for them with Portland, Salem and Canby on it. They think it's funny we have pets.

At 11 church proper started. Ken preached on faith and told them of how we came to be connected to their community. We then had a graduation ceremony for a beautician and 3 seamstresses. They received sewing machines and scissors/mirror to help them start up a business.

Then there was lunch and a parenting seminar. The church was full of parents and they had a few traditional dances that have to do with marriage. There was a question about legal action to make a child go to school. Not knowing Ugandan law, we could only encourage the father to pray with the child and urge them to get the education so they don't continue in poverty. The other question was about the younger generation getting more rebellious and promiscuous (sounds familiar). And we talked about teaching your children from early on what's right and how to love God. There was a big emphasis on love and spending time with their kids.

After that we gave out the gifts we brought. We really missed Rose, the social worker who usually organizes these parts who is on maternity leave, but we got the job done. Then we went back to the hotel and I dozed into my dinner.

PS. It rained for the first time in 3 months as we left Kachungwa. PTL and keep praying!

Love in Christ, Danelle Chase

On Top of the World

{This is a little old since I have been unable to get Wifi}

We made it to Uganda! All of the luggage arrived with no issues (we had 31 bags total which took quite a while to locate all of them) and we had no problems getting visas, through customs, etc. We were greeted SO warmly by none other than our very own Ashley Davis, Alex and others from Alex’s church. When we spotted each other it was a grand reunion full of hugs and laughter. I couldn’t wait to give Ashley and Alex a huge hug, it’s been far too long since I’ve seen the both of them. As I’m sitting here on my little net covered bed, thinking about our first day in Uganda I am slightly at a lost for words. Trying to form the right words to describe how I feel is nearly impossible. I definitely have been looking forward to this day for weeks, months, no more like years. The joy, peace, and shear contentment I feel in my heart is overpowering. This whole process; the getting ready, the traveling, the stepping foot off the plane, the meeting and loving on the people here feels as natural as breathing to me. It’s been less than one day and I’m sure with all my heart that Uganda and I will have a future. Not sure how just yet but I can’t wait to find out. God you are great!

Before I dive into what is has been like and what we’ve been doing I wanted to share with you a little bit about our traveling. We had absolutely no internet until we got back in the airport in Dubai.

Written 07/25/2013

Two days, three plane rides, over 9000 miles travelled. Portland to Seattle to Dubai and finally to Uganda. It can easily be said that the 14 hour flight from Seattle to Dubai was the most tiring, and hardest. We happily walked off the plane, stretching our legs after such a long flight. Happy to have a place to rest our heads. I know for me personally I didn’t sleep much the night before we left and on the plane ride but made up for that in Dubai. Most of all we were stoked to be one step closer to being in Uganda. In the short time since we left home God has given us more than enough, showed us great opportunities to talk to people around us about what God is doing in and through the lives of our team. I wanted to share with you an experience I had on our first flight to Seattle.

When boarding our first flight to Seattle, the fifteen of us found ourselves sitting all throughout the plane. None of us had seats together, it was as if we were flying solo. When I have flown before the people I sit next to are usually not all that social. Consumed with their music and are in their own little world. I do that myself most of the time but it is nice when you get lucky and get to sit next to a complete stranger who ends up being a great conversationalist. I think that is fun, meeting new people. Learning about their life, their beliefs, their ideas, thoughts, interests, you name it. Not long after I found my seat I was joined by such a character. We hit it off right away, asking simple questions about each other and the reason for traveling. Once I explained what our team is traveling for, of course he became more interested; allowing our conversation to dive deeper about our trip, what we are doing, life in general, and God. I wish I could go into great detail but it was a 30 minute conversation that couldn’t have been better. Walking away, handing him the link to this blog and going our own separate ways I couldn’t help to smile. Knowing God put this guy right in my path. It’s so easy to tune out the world like most people do when flying, but I always think about the great experiences you might miss.

Our route from Seattle. Not the route I thought but I’ve never flown over the North Pole and Russia before.

I will try and upload more photos tomorrow night.  This is all I have for now.


FIRST DAY IN UGANDA!

What a day this has been. We’ve been in Uganda for less than a day and we’ve already done so much. First things first we stopped to get some food. We were all pretty hungry. We then drove over to the ARM headquarters to tour the ARM office and see a little bit of the amazing program they have going on. I was able to meet a couple of the high school girls as they were heading out of their devotion assembly. So many children flooding the walkways, all of which wanted you to smile back at them and wave. Many times I would notice all they want is to be noticed by you. Children will be franticly waving and only when you smile and wave back would they break out their beautiful smiles and laughter. I can’t wait to meet more of the kids and teens; getting to know them some more and loving on them! After dropping our stuff off at the house we were staying at for the night we went to Loving Hearts Orphan Home, where Ashley has been spending quite a bit of time the past few weeks. I’m not ready to describe that experience yet.

I love children. Holding and loving on babies (newborn-toddler) is something I love to do. I did get to hold several of the babies and soaked up every minute of it. Seeing them; their smiles, personalities, and happiness to be held by you melted my heart. This experience was a little bitter sweet for me. Not going to sugar coat it. On one hand you have these adorable, bouncy, happy, and some sleeping babies that make you smile and can’t wait to love on them. On the other…such sadness, heart wrenching really. Walking into this home of babies that have been abandoned, alone, one even survived being stabbed by her mother; breaks my heart. It makes me want to hold and love on them even more. They need it so much!! There is one girl I love so much, Rebecca!! What a personality she has. Rebecca stole my heart a little bit. I want to go see her again!

 

Thank you all for your support, prayers, and love! Please keep us in your prayers as we are heading to Kachungwa tomorrow. Pray for safe travels and open hearts and minds as we meet with people, children, leaders, etc.

Love in Christ,

Melanie

Overwhelmed by Gratefullness

7-28-13

The people of Kachungwa really know how to show how grateful they are for Gods' blessings!

We drove from Adonai House to Mubende, which is a bigger town than I expected. It's bigger than Canby, but a tiny dot on the map. The Town View Hotel lives up to it's name! It has a courtyard, an eating place, and lots of stairs to drag your suitcases up. I'm glad the stairs are pretty symmetrical at least!

After dropping off our luggage, we went straight out to Kachungwa. The drive is about 45 minutes from the hotel. It is located off the main paved road, off the main dirt road, and off the secondary, etc., etc. dirt roads. There are signs posted for all the schools here, and at the "Grace Christian School" sign, we were greeted by so many singing kids in green uniforms. It was pretty overwhelming! They all wanted to touch us through the windows as they ran straight through bushes with the bus until we reached the school grounds. It was a very festival atmosphere and mothers were ululating while the kids cheered.

The school buildings are near the top of a hill and look small on the outside, but the classrooms are actually close to our classroom sizes. There is a new building being built between the two school wings and the church, which will eventually be a pre-school/nursery/early education building, but it has no roof yet. I think everyone eventually found their sponsored children and we all hugged pretty much every mother/grandmother there. They are so sweet! I was immediately given a pink bead necklace and earrings by a mother upon exiting the bus.

We had introductions, ate a lunch, received a report on the school with goals for the future. There are over 500 kids at the school now. I don't know how they fit them all into about 7 classrooms. There was a fun surprise Birthday celebration for Shari, set up by Alex. She was so embarrassed!

After that was some time to visit more. One of my girls pulled me around the campus showing me the swings and trying to introduce me to some of her 18 relatives. This was difficult since they speak quietly, the music from the church was blaring, and she writes better English than she speaks it.

I got to have a quick discussion with a P-6 teacher as we were leaving. Didas Twine (twin-ay, not the string) took my hand and we talked about the school year. He also asked me about our nights. He explained that they have 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. He wanted to know how our nights changed length. He seems very intelligent and (I think) understood right away. That was fun! I never thought I'd teach a teacher something. I hope we can have other conversations.

Please pray for a few things here. It is very dry and the only reason they have water right now is because of the rain catching tank that was installed. There is also a banana blight going around and that is a staple. Sunday we start preaching/teaching. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to intercede and cause real understanding from us and them. We are doing a parenting class as well...enough said!

Love in Christ, Danelle Chase

Day Two

7-27-13

Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Yesterday was a fairly light day. We flew from Dubai to Entebbe with no problems with visas. That was 5-6 hours. Same story with Entebbe airport. We drove through Entebbe and Kampala and had lunch at a deli/meat market.

Our first official thing to do was take a short tour of the ARM headquarters. ARM has a great location right up to a Lake Victoria and lots of room for the kids to play. They are between a primary and secondary (middle and high) school with a chapel on the ground floor, which was in session. Everything was tidy and organized. Our tour guide was Anita. She was a sponsored child herself and has been very helpful.

Side-note: School runs very long here. The kids get up early to run/walk a mile or more to get there and the secondary schools last until about 5PM. They also have a totally different schedule than our schools. They have farming year round, if there's water, and so they have year round school. Feb. to May, July to Sept., and Oct. to just before Christmas. June, some of Sept. and January are holidays.

After the tour of ARM, we stopped at Loving Hearts Babies Home for a short time to hold babies. It was very clean, with about 7 rotating employees to care for the little ones. Ashley Davis has been volunteering here when she's not in Luzira. I held a 3 month old named Corrine, who was very aware and cooing. Ashley said that they've never had to turn out a child for getting too old. Most are adopted by Mazungu (white folks). Praise the Lord for providing them homes!

After the babies, we went to Adonai House, which is beautiful and secure, for dinner and sleep. We all needed that!
Today... Kachungwa!

Love in Christ, Danelle Chase

The Adventure Begins!

7-26-13

God is so Good!

Our day started uneventfully; check in, check bags, sit for a LONG time, but God is watching over us. The plane rides to Seattle and Dubai were very smooth and we had a safe landing. We were delayed slightly on the tarmac of Dubai with smoking brakes. Apparently, there was a hydraulic leak onto them which got hot on landing. A quick squirt of water, to be safe, and we were on our way.
There were a lot of people on the plane we were able to talk to about where we were going and what we were doing. They were all supportive.

We spent the night in a hotel for Emirates passengers and employees, which was nice. Emirates Air is a really nice airline! The service was great and the workers genuinely friendly.

PS. Sorry for the delay, but we are having Wi-Fi issues.

Love in Christ, Danelle Chase

Reflections during the flight to Dubai

Wow, this flight from Seattle to Dubai is a long one.  Actually about 14.5 hours.  Ken really put it into perspective – we could drive from Canby to Los Angeles in the same amount of time.  I have made the drive to Los Angeles many times.  That drive always includes several stops, for fuel, food and rest areas.  But on this flight, I am in the center seat between my wife, Danelle and Isaac Williams.  The two rows in front of ours are where the Peters family is sitting, along with Melanie and Julie.  In the two rows behind us sit Ralph, the Davis’s, Ken and the Dunfee’s.  We, along with the nearly three hundred other people in economy class, are not able to spend a lot of time standing to stretch our legs and there is certainly no elbow room.  

 

Even though there are some negatives, Emirates Air has taken great care of us so far.  A top notch dinner of either grilled chicken or lamb, along with a great dessert.  They also gave us a “snack” of personal pizzas, and have made several trips through the cabin with the drink cart.  We each have our own personal monitor in front of us where we have access to over 1200 different movies and TV shows, along with video games and a cool map that shows that we are currently flying over Russia somewhere between St. Petersburg and Moscow at a speed of Mach 0.83, about 560 MPH.  Our flight took us up and over the North Pole.  We were able to look down at glaciers and an iced over Arctic Ocean.  

 

One strange thing is that we have not seen any darkness, no night time.  Since we left Seattle at about 5:45pm and made it over the North Pole before sunset, we came down the other side of the earth after sunrise.  Most of us have taken a short nap by now, but no good night’s sleep.  We will sleep well at our hotel in Dubai tonight, which will actually be a good way to get acclimated to Uganda’s time zone which is 10 hours ahead of Canby’s.   

This flight is certainly a bear, and after we get to Dubai, we will still have another 5 or 6 hours of flying to get to Uganda.  However, I wouldn’t trade it for anything right now.  The opportunity to meet the 5 kids that we sponsor is so exciting.  I am so looking forward to talking to Sam, John, Scovia, Kyalimpa (K.K.) and Kevin along with their families.  I am looking forward to the hugs and laughter and being able to walk with them hand in hand as they show us their homes and communities.  

I absolutely love how God connected our church family with Africa Renewal Ministries (ARM).  It actually came at us from two different directions, which intersected about 4 years ago.  

Pastor Ken Harvey met a pastor from Africa while at a convention in Southern California several years ago.  They exchanged business cards and prayed with each other.  After the convention they each went their separate ways. 

About 5 years ago, my parents were visiting a church in Sisters, Oregon and while they were there the church was promoting a child sponsorship program.  They felt a need to sponsor a child on behalf of their grandkids.  They thought it would be a good opportunity for our kids to have a “pen-pal” in another country.  This sponsored child, Kennedy, was a part of a program through ARM.  At the time, I had never heard of this organization; I did quite a bit of research on the internet.  Our missions’ budget did not have the funds to support another organization, but I really felt that God was leading us to do something to support this organization.  I presented it to the missions committee and we decided that even though, as a committee, we couldn’t put it in the budget, we wanted to ask our church family to sponsor individual children.  In talking with Johnny Karls, who was the U.S. director of ARM at the time, we decided it would be best to have our church family sponsor children in one community.  Johnny suggested the community of Kachungwa, which he had recently visited.  Kachungwa is far from the big city of Kampala, and needed a church to partner with them.   

The missions committee felt that it was very important that the Pastors and Elders of the church be 100% on board as we began to promote this sponsorship program.  I remember fielding many questions from the Elders and Pastors and ultimately they gave their blessing.  Shortly afterwards we discovered that Stephanie Newman, who grew up in Canby Christian and was leading the missions program at a large church in Houston, had been working with ARM and had taken a couple different trips to Uganda.  She gave their program rave reviews and introduced us to Alex & Faith who were students at Multnomah Bible College at the time, they also were sponsored children when they were younger. 

Within a few weeks, I was standing in front of the congregation along with Amy (Crites) McCamish and Alex, introducing the child sponsorship program.  I will never forget the look on Pastor Ken’s face when I stood in front of everybody and announced that we had set a goal of sponsoring 100 children, a goal that I had not shared with Ken.  However, with the help of Alex & Faith and through the power of God, we reached that goal about 3 months later.   

Shortly after that our missions’ budget at the church was increased and our missions committee was tasked with finding a new mission to support.  It was an easy choice that we would help support ARM and the community of Kachungwa.  We also were happy to have Johnny Karls visit and eventually Pastor Peter, the founder of ARM came and spoke at our church.  This is where the connection was finally revealed and the way God was working behind the scenes became so obvious.  You see, Pastor Peter was that African pastor that had exchanged business cards with Ken so many years ago.  The one that shared his ministry with Ken and had prayed with him for God’s guidance.  There is no way to explain the connection that Canby Christian Church has with ARM, except to acknowledge that God’s hand was guiding all of it, all for His glory and to expand His kingdom. 

I am elated to say that our church family now sponsors around 180 children in Kachungwa and also Luzira, which is where Alex & Faith have their church.  We also have raised the funds to build a medical clinic in Kachungwa, which is in the process of buying the land and they will start construction soon.  In addition to this we are able to support the church in Kachungwa on a monthly basis too.  

God is so good and so amazing.  I am so happy to lead the missions committee at our church, which has such a focus and heart to reach the lost, both at home and around the world.  I want to thank every person that is sponsoring one or more children in Uganda.  You are truly making a difference in their lives, providing them with an education, food, and most importantly the love of our Savior.  I would like to encourage any of you that are not currently sponsoring a child to prayerfully consider doing so.  I guarantee that you will be blessed and you will bless a child at the same time.

 

In His Service,

Brandon Chase

I'll Lend You Child

Eleven years ago Tina and I came fairly close to losing our newborn baby girl.  Kate was born way too early and did not have very good odds even in one of the best NICU hospitals in Oregon.  Her lungs were not supposed to be able to work at that early age and she wasn't physically developed enough to suck, swallow, & breath.  After many tests, we were informed by the doctors that God must have big plans for our little girl because the only medical term they had for her was a "miracle".  We still had to wait nearly a month for Kate to get up to 4lbs before we could bring her home.  Tina and I often talk about how God comforted and calmed us as we went through that chapter of our lives.  The peace that He brought us was beyond all understanding.  About a year later God blessed us with our second courageous little warrior woman, Kellie.  We don't know what God's plans are for our daughters yet, but we know they are special and see God working on them and through them daily.  It's an amazing responsibility to consider that God has gifted us with two of his children and entrusted us in their parenting.

A couple of years ago God placed another little girl into our family.  Her name is Glorious and she doesn't have parents.  In two and half months Kate, Glorious, & Kellie will all be the same age for a week, 11 years old.  Glorious is our sponsored little girl from Uganda and in less then a week our family will get to meet Glorious in person.  

Tina and I are excited beyond words to be able to go to Uganda but that excitement pales in comparison to the joy and passion that Kate and Kellie have for for this trip and for getting to meet their "sister".  

It always brings tears to my eyes but I want to share a poem with you by Edgar Guest.  Tina and I read this poem everyday at Emmanuel Hospital hanging  on the wall in Kate's NICU and it has touched our hearts in a very special way.

"I'll lend you for a little while, 

a child of mine" God said,

"for you to love the while she lives,

and mourn for when she's dead.

It may be two or three short years,

or twenty-two or three,

but will you, till I call her back,

take care of her for me?

She'll bring her charms to gladden you,

and should her stay be brief,

you'll have her lovely memories

as solace for your grief.

I cannot promise she will stay,

since all from earth return,

but there are lessons taught down there

I want this child to learn.

I've looked the wide world over

in my search for teacher's true,

and from the throngs that crowd life's lanes,

I have selected you.

Now will you give her all your love?

Nor think the labor vain?

Nor hate me when I come to call,

to take her back again?"

God fancied he heard the parent's say,

"Dear Lord, thy will be done.

For all the joy the child shall bring,

the risk of grief I'll run.

I'll shelter her with tenderness,

I'll love her while I may, 

and for the happiness I've known

forever grateful I'll stay.

But should the angels call for her,

much sooner than I planned,

I'll brave the bitter grief that comes,

and try to understand."

Like I said before, I don't know or always understand God's plans but I do know they are always better than mine.  We will really try to keep you all updated during our trip these next two weeks and ask that you pray for all of us.

Jeff, Tina, Kate, & Kellie Peters